RAW BEAUTY LINDA CAMERON, UK

Two special places for us are Matobo Hills in Zimbabwe and the Erongo Mountains in Namibia, both areas of great beauty and ancient magic. Camping on our own in the middle of the granite boulders and mountains, visits from baboons, thousands-of-years-old rock art and the silence draw us back, providing a retreat from a busy world, a time to pause and reconnect with the earth and ourselves.

But it is to the Namibian desert that we return every year, a wilderness full of life and raw beauty, a place of survival. It strips away the trappings of everyday life and there is no place to hide. One special memory is of camping in the Namib Rand, the desert lit up by a full moon. A lone oryx passed close by, silhouetted against the dune, pausing to look at us for a few moments before slowly disappearing over the horizon. The words of Peter Matthiessen from The Tree Where Man Was Born stay with us: “Africa overwhelms me so, especially at twilight, that sometimes I burst into tears.”

EVERYTHING AND MORE SHARON TAYLOR, USA

What is it about Africa that so many have felt? “Genetic memory”? A connection to the wilderness lacking in our modern world? The gracious nature of the people? It’s all of this and more. It’s the colourful chaos of an African marketplace, the thrill of watching lions on the hunt, the peace of watching a sun set, the camaraderie around a campfire, listening to the ‘whoop’ of hyenas, waking to a cheery “Good morning” as a fresh cup of coffee arrives outside.

SPREADING THE WORD IAN KNIGHTS, UK

There is only one word that for me describes Africa – ‘infectious’. Once you